CORAL SPRINGS It seems they’ve been tagging after each other their whole lives growing up in the suburbs of Minneapolis playing in the same Squirt Division at 8 years old, but Panthers prospects Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad wouldn’t have it any other way.

While Rau has remained a squirt-like height of 5-foot-8 compared to Bjugstad’s 6-6 frame, that hasn’t prevented the feisty Eden Prairie legend from following in his pal’s humongous footsteps.

A year after Bjugstad was crowned Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey while playing for Blaine High, Rau earned the prestigious title in 2011. Rau capped off his high school career with a diving goal in the third overtime to beat East Duluth for his team’s second state Class 2A title in three seasons.

Bjugstad was drafted by the Panthers with the 25th overall pick in 2010, and a year later Rau was snatched up by Florida at 91.

Now, they’re on the same line for the University of Minnesota and at this week’s Panthers development camp both are trying to impress the coaching staff and General Manager Dale Tallon.

“He got a couple of goals to beat us in the state semifinals so he’s got bragging rights,’’ Bjugstad said with a laugh Tuesday after the morning practice at Saveology.com Iceplex. “We’ve kind of taken the same path, but it’s pretty cool.’’

Bjugstad led the Gophers to the Frozen Four with 25 goals and 42 points in 40 games, while Rau chipped in 18 goals and 43 points. They were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual NCAA Division 1 champion Boston College Eagles.

Rau, 19, realizes that the odd couple may split up this season if Bjugstad decides to pass up his junior season to vie for a spot on the Panthers at training camp in September.

“I wish I knew. He doesn’t even know yet,’’ said Rau, a sophomore. “I love playing with him and being around him, but whatever’s best for him. We have a blast and you only do [college] once. We’ll see what happens.’’

Bjugstad, who turns 20 in two weeks, hopes to decide by then. He knows that Tallon, who covets tall centers, has saved at least two spots on the roster from this camp, with forward Jonathan Huberdeau already locked into one.

However, Bjugstad isn’t guaranteed a professional contract and if he commits to the Panthers training camp he would forfeit his college scholarship.

“It’s a tough one, especially the way last year ended,’’ Bjugstad said. “We’ve got a lot of good players coming in and a lot returning, and obviously this is a great organization that turned it around last year.

“There’s pros and cons on both sides. I should probably write it down on a sheet of paper and add them up.’’

Bjugstad will seek advice from his parents and especially his uncle Scott Bjugstad, a 1981 ninth-round pick by the then Minnesota North Stars who carved out a solid nine-year NHL career with Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Bjugstad, who runs a shooting camp in Stillwater, Minn., put off the NHL to play four seasons for the Gophers. He finished with 76 goals and 144 points in 317 NHL games.

“He’s a good mentor for me and we talk quite a bit,’’ Bjugstad said of his uncle who coincidentally played alongside Gord Dineen, brother of Panthers coach Kevin Dineen, for two seasons in Minnesota and Pittsburgh.

“He doesn’t push me either way. He’s been through it, so I get stories what it was like.’’

Panthers director of player development Brian Skrudland attended several Gophers games last season while evaluating Rau and Bjugstad.

“One has got the size and strength and the other brings the attitude of never quitting. I’m speaking of Nick first and Kyle second, but then you could mix it and match it the other way around,’’ Skrudland said. “They definitely brought a sense of excitement in that arena in Minneapolis that maybe hasn’t been seen for a few years.’’

Bonehead comments aside, nice to see the future gelling together early. That kind of chemistry and familiarity cannot be coached. Personally, I hope Bjugstad goes back to UMINN and gets his trophy. Gets that winning mentality (you can’t really coach that either). 2014 will be fun to watch.

DT said Bjugstad is 6′6″ and 220 lbs. KD said it doesn’t look like the kid has missed many meals, which could be a shot at the fact he is out of shape. DT expects him to someday play in the 240 lb range. All he has to do is hang around with Scott Luce and he’ll be there in no time.

Funny how Huberdeau is only now saying he will address the weight room and add to his skinny frame. What the hell has this kid been doing in juniors? Looking at him, he hasn’t be working out. While injured he could have been working on his upper body strength. All the talent in the world isn’t going to help you when you are getting crushed by 200 lb professionals.

Kyle Rau is someone I hope makes it. He’s small but fiesty, and also needs to work on adding muscle to his frame. It will be interesting to watch his development in the next few years, as I think he has the right attitude to take it to the next level.

Racine is a great pick. He will play another year of Juniors and should fill out nicely by camp in 2013. May take him a few years in the AHL, but I think he will be in a Cats uniform by 2015.

Dana – did you notice that the Flyers drafted the former Jr. Panthers kid, Shayne Gostisbehere, who plays D for Union College? He went in the 3rd round. Skinny kid listed at 5′ 11″ and just 160 pounds but he is a heck of skater and puck handler. He’s obviously years (and some bulk) away from the the pros, but it’ll be interesting to see if he makes it to the next level. Would have been nice to see the Panthers draft a hometown kid.

Yes I did notice Shayne is a Flyer. I know you spoke about him around the Frozen Four, but I didn’t get to see him play. I think the Panthers are so deep at D-men that they will have to dangle one or two for some offense in the next 3 yrs. Hopefully he gets bigger and can work into a Dan Boyle type of player.

Parise and Suter go to the Minnesota Wild – same deal for each – $98 million for 13 years, avg salary of $7.538 million. That should open the flood gates for other deals to start happening. Happy to see them both go to the Western Conference. It sounds like the wanted to do this together, having played on the US Olympic and World Jr teams together. Detroit is probably very disappointed. And Pete DeBoer’s job just got tougher, losing his best player. I guess it’s now Kovi’s team.

The Preds will be fine with Blum, Ellis, and Josi. This will give them some cash to make sure Weber stays. The Wild is going in one direction and the Wings in the other. Detroit has had their day, it’s time to drop a notch and start rebuilding in a couple of years. They will still be competitive for that long. If Bjugstad heads back to college, I could see DT making an offer to Jason Arnott. They will need help for a year going against Carolina.

Bugs is going back to college……..if there’s only two slots open I think they’re going to Hubs & Howden then next year its Bugs turn. What about Petrovic, Repik, Robak Shore Mc Farland? Are they trade bait or a few years away? We have a lot of good prospects but not enough space on the team….I gotta believe DT’s gonna make a deal for a scorer and I hope its Bobby Ryan

BTW…I havent heard anything about Grimaldi not that I care…….Too bad he puts his religious fanatasism before his hockey career. I think he’s got talent but I also think he is not destined to play for us……

Bjugstad will have an opening if he wants to stay here. He will be needed for his size to compete against the Hurricanes tandem of the Staal Bros. If my calcs are correct, we will have room for both including Huberdeau. If he goes then I see them taking a run at Jason Arnott if he is still available. If Arnotts’ gone, then I guess it’s a coin flip for another free agent.

I think the only one who has a legit shot in that group is Petrovic. He should be the first D-man on call up. The kid is an extremely physical player with more of an upside offensively than Gubs. Robak needs to get more physical. Shore needs more time in the AHL along with McFarland.

Ryan will go no where without a player of equal value in return. Therefore, I think he is stuck with the Ducks. Grimaldi is got school problems and needed to stay for the summer in N. Dakota. He will try to get them worked out, and if not he will have to wait until he’s 20 to join the AHL on 2/2/13.

Easy 96… I don’t think we need to condemn or write off Grimaldi just because the guy wears his spirituality on his sleeve. I think even calling him a religious fanatic is a little strong, unless you know him personally and can vouch for the fact that his tendencies are so over-the-top, zealous and consuming that it’s borderline unhealthy. There are tons of pubilicly religious athletes who are incredibly prouicutve, not to mention terrific teammates. A little bit of the religious stuff goes a long way with me, but I’m still expecting Grimaldi’s fate as a Panther to be a function of his heart and hockey skills, not his religious beliefs.

Grimaldi – Dana is correct that he has school problems and that’s why he’s not here. But, he can indeed play in the AHL regardless of when he turns 20 because he plays in the NCAA. The “20 before Dec 31″ rule is something that comes out of the agreement between the CHL and the NHL and applies only to anyone playing Jrs in the WCHL, OHL or QMJHL.

Petrovic is not NHL ready, but don’t lump him in with a list of forwards. He’s a d-man and a year in the AHL (at least) is needed for him to develop fully.

Bjugstad – as much as it makes sense to have a big body like him on the roster, it also makes sense for this kid to mature a bit more and get in one more year of college. But if he decides to turn pro he’s eligible to play in the AHL (for the same reason as noted for Grimaldi) and I can easily see Tallon wanting him to get some seasoning at that level before jumping up to the NHL.

As for calculating open roster spots consider the following list of forwards and defensemen (based on currently rostered players and those RFA’s expected to re-sign):

That gives them 22 players expected to be on the roster. They can only have 23 players on the roster. One of the defensemen will probably have to go in order to trim that back to the 7 a team usually carries. Sending Ellerby to the AHL may not be so simple. I do not think he’s exempt from waivers, which means a call-up exposes him to being claimed by another team.

So at most they could have 2 spots open and at worst they have just 1. But trying to figure out how they make it work is kind of a moot point since there is the strong chance that the Panthers will make other moves in the upcoming weeks – free agent signing(s) and/or trades.

Good point WAM, I didn’t know that. But I’m still pulling for the little bugger to stay in school. It will give him a perspective on what to do with his life if the NHL does not work out. Although SFN is correct many religious guys fit in to teams and are looked up to in times of trouble, I think Evangelicals can be a problem if they continue to preach in a non-stop manner. Rocco will need to learn tolerance of other religions/non beliefs and to tone down the public displays that can be a distraction. It’s easier on a football team of 50 players as opposed to 23 for hockey. It’s even more difficult in basketball. There are a few Muslim players in the NBA, and they have learned to be tolerant to get along. Sometimes experience can be a hard lesson.

I think Ellerby signed at 20 and is now going into his 4th year, so he would need to clear waivers if brought up. I don’t think they plan to bring him up, as that’s why they signed Strachan to a one-way. They will try and trade him before doing that, but will probably not get much in return. He just doesn’t play with that edge needed to intimidate when players come into his territory.

Rau hasn’t given any indication he is even considering turning Pro. He is 5′8″ and 155lbs the last I heard. That’s not the size guy you want getting pounded at 19. Bjugstad is a tough decision. He went into the Frozen Four with all sorts of small injuries and really wasn’t a factor, but……..he had a phenomenal season. I agree with WAM he could probably use another year at NCAA level, as I don’t think he really understands yet what kind of commitment you need to make to get ready for 82 regular season games plus the playoffs. If he had trouble staying healthy in half those games, he is in for a long tough year in the NHL.

Robak will probably get the first call-up due to pecking order. He plays a solid game and was an AHL all-star, but his game is similar to Ellerbys’ except he is a little more of an offensive threat. Petrovic is a fast learner, and given some time in the AHL to start should be ready for call-up after the first of the year. He has Robak type skill but is much nastier to play against. I could be off, but that’s my opinion.

Howden is an enigma this year. He definitely had his brain scrambled twice last year, and guys are never quite the same after that. To his credit he played through most of it and produced, so never say never. That aside, if he makes it to the NHL he will be one of the 5 fastest skaters in the league. You just can’t teach that, plus he is growing into a man very quickly.

Happy 4th, everyone. What an interesting day. The Eastern Conference just got a bit weaker, eh? Now, what to do here in Panther land. I say let Bugs and Rau come pro and season in the AHL. Nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with letting him go back to school. Roster wise, we aren’t done making moves. We need a second line center. Unless we want Huberdeau in that role, we need to either sign one, or trade for one. Does Howden make the team this season? Or does he start in the AHL?

I do not think Howden is NHL ready this year.If I recall he is not a plus player and needs at LEAST one full year in the AHL as does Petrovic.Huberdeau was NHL ready last year and will turn out to be a 30-40 goal scorer during his career barring injuries.Lets not forget Howden is concussion prone allready and he doesnt even compare to Huberdeau in skill.I also think we DO NOT make the playoffs next year Markstrom is not progressing as fast as was expected and I do not think he is a franchise goaltender.He needs at least 2 more yrs in the AHL and in my opinion Dov Grumet-Morris was a better goaltender up to this point.All just my opinion.

If we do not make any more moves this season, we will not make the playoffs next year. I understand that guys like Huberdeau are waiting in the wings. I get that Bjugstad might be ready soon. But neither of them have played an NHL game. Do I think both of those guys will be successful in this league? Of course. But can we rest our hopes on them? No. As far as Markstrom goes, I’m skeptical as well. I think he is our goalie of the future, but when that future might be I do not know. Not long ago, we had one of the deepest goaltender pools out there. Cheverie, Markstrom, Plante, etc… we still have some young guys besides Marky coming up; Brittain and Foster being the two most notable.

As far as free agency goes, why not roll the dice on some wildcards at this point? Jason Blake, Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner, Andre Kostitsyn, Kyle Wellwood.. heck, anyone remember Jonathan Cheechoo? He’s even available. These are guys who can get you at least 10-15 goals a season. We won’t have Sturm. Santorelli is gone as well. If we bring Huberdeau up, we need at least one or two more guys who can score behind him. Otherwise, last season was a bust. And if anyone here says that it would be okay if we didn’t make it this year, you are dead wrong.

Other Side: No one doubts your passion or understanding of the game (and the team!!) but being as I am one of those who would not be THAT disappointed if we missed the playoffs this season (2013), I want to explain my logic. I feel we overachieved last year and were able to take advantage of a weaker-than-expected division (a la the Fins four years ago). Obviously the Dolphins were not really as good a team as they were that year, but having Chad Pennington fall into their lap, a serious injury to Tom Brady, and no serious injuries to the Fins enabled a better-than-expected finish. I think we all know that actually hurt the Fins in the long run as expectations were unfairly placed and faith in certain people was unwarrantedly (<– is that a word? I'm choosing to think it is) given. I like that Tallon is keeping a level head and sticking to his blueprint. Playoffs were great for morale and the all-important bottom line, but to risk the future by trading prosects away for anyone OTHER than Kane or Ryan is a sure-fire way to undo all of the hard work.

Ed, I tend to disagree with you in that I think the Panthers squarely earned this year’s playoff birth. If I’m not mistaken, the Panthers had more injuries (i.e., days missed by different starters), than any team in the NHL last year, not just the Eastern Conference or SE division. Chemistry and commitment can overcome some skill deficits; that’s what made the difference this year, and is why I’m expecting the Cats to make the playoffs again next year, ahead of teams that are better on paper. But I agree with you in that Tallon should stick to the blueprint for exactly that reason… the makeup of a team goes a long way toward competitiveness. Eventually we’ll not only have a team of consistently high character players, but also one that is as skilled as other teams’ rosters… and when that happens, we’re Stanley Cup contenders. That’s a few years out.

Interesting points of view. Personally, I am not expecting any big moves in free agency (though I’ve learned to not be shocked by just about anything). I do believe, however, that the Panthers will take more significant action via trade(s). Could be something in connection with the much rumored potential Luongo deal or something else. There are also now a few teams that are projected to be spending close enough to the cap ceiling that they may need relief so they have some flexibility during the season and/or they still have unsigned RFA’s that need to be dealt with. Minnesota is a good example. With the Parise and Suters deals done, they are now projected to hit about $68 million with only 22 players under contract – 14 forwards and 6 defensemen. I’d be surprised if they don’t do something to clear cap space and bolster their defense. They have a few really good prospects in their system and it was expected that one or two were going to be on their roster this year.

I am not going to start worrying about what the Panthers have done so far this offseason as their needs right now are very different from last year. They have a stellar set of prospects who will feed the organization over the next few years and I think some of their more experienced players will have an even greater impact this year if only because I expect them to be healthier.

First off, I don’t know who posted as me yesterday @ 2:35 but it was NOT me!
I didn’t even know you were able to post as somebody else?

Anyway, my apologies S FL Native maybe my classifying Rocco as a religious fanatic was a bit harsh….I just think the kid needs to turn down his microphone a little…….LOL

Dana said…..Although SFN is correct many religious guys fit in to teams and are looked up to in times of trouble, I think Evangelicals can be a problem if they continue to preach in a non-stop manner. Rocco will need to learn tolerance of other religions/non beliefs and to tone down the public displays that can be a distraction

Back to me…..All I was saying was he is a bit extreme. I always see him on Twitter and never once see him posting anything hockey related as other players do. I tried to engage him once but all I got was him quoting scripture. Its ok for an athlete to be G-D oriented, just don’t keep bombarding me with it and push it in my face. Look at Tebow, he’s caught a lot of flack because of his “in your face “J Man” stuff. Not every hockey fan or sports fan is a Christian so they do need to remember this. After all, we are the ones that buy the tickets which gives them the big salaries.

OK, enough of that crap, back to hockey………Can someone please tell me why we signed this enforcer Jacques today? I thought Parros was signed for that reason? Just from the 2 videos that the NHL posted, he looks like a goon?

Still early but I gotta think with the roster over the max, DT’s got a trade in the works? I do not think Ryan is unattainable and we certainly have a couple of players plus prospects plus picks to deal, so why wouldn’t Anaheim deal with us? If you were to offer a package to them for him, who would you choose to offer?

Must be following Parros around. They both were with the Ducks at one time, and actually fought each other to a draw in 2010. He has split his time between AHL & NHL, and is a guy who actually scores quite a bit as a power forward in the AHL, and was an excellent scorer in juniors. His main job in the NHL has been as enforcer with limited ice time. He has been known to take a few cheap shots and was suspended 3 games for a head hit in 2011.

I think he’s a guy who wants more ice time and hasn’t got it at the pro level. He is probably frustrated and has done a few stupid things. He and Brad Staubitz really dislike each other, and seem to tango every time they meet. He will get a long look in SA, and could provide some offense on the 4th line if given a chance on call-ups with the Cats. He’s got some game, which is what the Cats look for in an enforcer.

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About the author

HARVEY FIALKOV, a tennis-playing sportswriter who grew up in Long Island following the dynastic Islanders, is the new Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel and looking forward to writing about the best professional sports team in Broward County.